FHE - CARVING PUMPKINS

Once a month my family gets together at my mom and dad's house for FHE. This month due to Halloween being around the corner, we decided to carve pumpkins after the lesson. Who would of thought that Scott would have gotten into carving spirit as much as the kids (I mean more than the kids). He brought technical designs and a head light to create his masterpiece. We were all done carving while Scott was still working away. The kids had a great time spending the evening together and making their own personal jack-o-lantern. They loved cleaning out the guts and scooping out the seeds. I think this is the worst part - I prefer the actual carving!

Some of the creations were Napoleon Dynamite, a spider, a ghost, skeleton and more. After everyone was finished we lined them all up on the counter with lights and took pictures. I must admit, Scott's pumpkin was pretty cool!

The pumpkin carving was a success and the best part was, the mess wasn't at our house!

WITCHES NIGHT OUT

Last year a few of my friends and I started going to "Witches Night Out" at Gardner Village. Every year they put on a weekend of festivities just for witches. Including cackling contests, dressing up, dancing, fall food, mini-spa treatments, raffles and shopping. We haven't quite got into the spirit of fully dressing up; however we do wear witches hats and socks.

This year the weather put a damper on attending the event (rain and cold temperatures), we pondered cancelling; but we decided to brave the cold anyway and I am sure glad we did. We took our time wondering around the shops and then had a fantastic dinner at Archibald's restaurant. I even walked away with a $50.00 gift certificate to the Cottage Day Spa.

Thanks Jo, Erica, Melissa and Jaime for a fun evening! Gotta love girl's nights!

CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF DISNEY!

We ventured to Florida over last week because Dan had a seminar in Orlando and my parents had a time share week they needed to use before November. It wasn't an ideal time to go considering the economy and due to financial reasons; however sometimes you do things to create memories for your kids - even though they aren't the smartest decisions you ever made. We were able to spend a few days with Dan before he was out of commission at the M5 seminar.

Our intent when going on this trip was to take it easy and relax at the hotel, while spending a few days at Disney. Well that never happens because there is so much to see and do in Florida. We went through a ticket broker to get our tickets because we were able to save a lot of money, instead of buying tickets directly at the gate. Our original plan was to buy tickets with 2 days to the parks and 1 day at the water park. Our tickets ended up having 3 days at the park and 3 extra activities including water parks. So instead of relaxing at the pool, we decided to take advantage of our tickets and go to Disney every day. By the end of the week we were all completely worn out.

We couldn't of asked for better weather, it was sunny and in the 80's every day! Something we are missing now in Utah, now that is it October. We must of hit every one's fall break, because out of all the times we have been to Florida, I have never seen Disney World so crowded. Despite the crowds, we had an amazing time. The only night I got a little claustrophobic was trying to get out of Magic Kingdom. After spending the entire day there, the kids were beat and wanted to leave before the firework show, that was a complete joke because all of Main Street was completely packed with people. I have never seen so many people in my life or have had a harder time trying to get out of the crowd. As we worked our way toward the front gate, we were separated from my parents. I told my kids to hand on to me and not let go! It took us at least 30 minutes to get out from the crowd - and I was so pleased to be able to breathe again. What was amazing was to see the rush of people exit after the fireworks, I cant even describe it.

As always my favorite day was visiting Blizzard Beach! What made this year even more exciting was that this was the first year we didn't have to hang out at Tikes Peak - and watch Reagan play in the kiddie pools. She was tall enough to ride the majority of the slides and she enjoyed every minute of it. It was great to be able to experience the park together as a family and all race down the toboggan rides.

We also ventured over to Universal Islands of Adventure to check out the new Harry Potter world. The architecture was incredible. The street were packed and filled with all sorts of stores and things from Hogwarts. (This being a new attraction - it was extremely crowded, plus the new Harry Potter ride - made all of us sick! We did however want to ride Dueling Dragons. We even bought Jaxson some Dr. Schols insoles, so he would be just a little taller and could ride the ride. Unfortunately we was still a tad bit too short. He was so disappointed - as we have been building up Dueling Dragons and the Hulk roller coasters. On our way out of the Harry Potter land, so stopped for lunch at a fantastic restaurant in the Lost Continent called Mythos! We enjoyed the Sindbad Stunt Show and the Poseidon's Fury (although the fire effects during the show scared Reagan more than I had ever seen). On our way over to Comic Strip land, Dan found some landscaping bark and we put them in the heels of Jaxson's shoes. Our efforts paid off, as we was able to ride the Hulk roller coaster. He was quite thrilled and it made every one's day.

The next couple of days were spent at Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studio's. We rode the safari at Animal Kingdom, saw our favorite show the Celebration of the Lion King and had pulled pork sandwiches! At Hollywood Studio's the crowds we were big that we were only able to ride Tower of Terror once (Bummer for Madi and I, as this is our favorite ride of all time) The lines were super long at Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania being the longest wait at 2 1/2 hours. We did not stand in line for this ride - I wasn't about to wait for over 2 hours. We did get to experience the Rockin' Aerosmith Roller Coaster - what a thrill and complete entertainment the entire time. We went to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Reagan started belting out the songs during the performance. As I tried to quiet her down, she looked and me and said "Mom, I'm singing!" We also ate at our favorite restaurant 50's Prime Time Cafe! The food is home style cooking, in addition you better have manners and eat your green beans, or waiter will give you a mouthful. Such a fun atmosphere and fabulous food!

On our last day we enjoyed Epcot, we spent a lot of time in Future World, there were a lot of new things to see and do - the kids really enjoyed it. We met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto - Reagan was so excited she was jumping up and down. Later that afternoon Reagan and I had lunch with the Princesses. This was the highlight of my trip. I had told her we were going to have lunch with the princesses and she couldn't wait. She asked everyday if this was the day she was going to have lunch with them. She had been dressed up in her Belle gown all day and the moment was finally here. As we arrived at Asershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway we immediately got to meet Belle and Reagan got her picture taken with her. She was super sweet, they were both twirling around in their yellow gowns and the smile on Reagan's face was priceless. Belle asked her what her name was and she responded without hesitation, my name is Belle. When we sat down for lunch Reagan wanted to know why the princesses were not eating with us. I told her they needed to visit with all the girls and that they would come over to our table and meet her. That was not good enough because "You said, we were going to eat lunch with the princesses." (She takes everything so literally) While Reagan was in the little girls room, we missed Sleeping Beauty, however she was kind enough to come back to our table and meet Reagan. I love Disney's customer service - it can't be beat! Next we met Cinderella, followed by Snow White and Ariel. Reagan was so excited to meet Ariel that she almost overlooked Snow White. Reagan was singing her "lovely song" from the Little Mermaid. (This is the song Ariel sings to Ursula, when she gives her, her voice. Reagan's sings it loud and off key. It is hilarious) Ariel couldn't help but over hear her sing as she was visiting with the other girls and she stopped and said to Reagan "Are you practicing for the concert? Just don't forget like I did." The lunch ended with the girls parading around the banquet hall with all the princesses. Before leaving we were given an 8x10 photo of Reagan with Belle. it was a magical experience - one I would do over and over again!

By the end of the night, everyone was exhausted and ready to call it a day. Even though it was the end of our trip, we could of stayed a few more days relaxing around the pool and the resort.

PUMPKIN PATCH... IN THE DRIVEWAY

Late last Spring Dan noticed a weed growing out of the crack in the middle of our driveway and thought "That looks like a pumpkin plant." Being curious he decided not to kill the weed to see what would happen. Sure enough as days turned into weeks, our little weed grew and grew into a huge pumpkin plant. We thought it would be fun to see how it developed through the summer and to see if it would actually produce any pumpkins.

Every year we plant pumpkins in our pit of despair (it helps keep the weeds down and it is a cheap way to have pumpkins in the fall for decorating and carving)

We planted and watered the pumpkins in the pit; but never watered and cared for the pumpkin plant on the driveway. Funny thing is, the pumpkin plant on the driveway grew more pumpkins then any of our other pumpkin plants! We are still not sure how it got there - but it gave us some great entertainment this summer watching and checking out the growth of the pumpkins.



We still made it over to the pumpkin patch around the corner - a family favorite this time of year. I get excited (I mean the kids get excited) to pick out the pumpkins from the huge rows and take festive fall pictures.

TURNING 35

I have often complained about my birthday and sometimes the gifts I receive from my husband. Through the years I have had some funny memories of gifts he has shared with me.

Take for example the year I had to go to the mall to get a gift certificate for a wedding, Dan responded by saying I need to go to the mall too. In the 15 minutes it took me to get the certificate Dan had purchased all of my presents. The next morning I woke up to Dan giving me a Levi jacket (although cute, he gave me one the year before for my birthday) a shawl from Sears and a green turtle neck (very skinny long necked) sweater. Needless to say his 15 minute shopping trip didn't turn out so well and everything went back.

Then there was the year that Dan gave me a red cape for Christmas, it even had a muff. It was a wool coat that had slots for my arms to come out and put in the muff/pocket in front. I almost cried when he gave it to me. he told me it was red (which is my favorite color) and that it was from Dillard's. We also told me his mother liked it. I told him that should of been his first clue. That present went back to the store as well.

Then there was the year that for my birthday he took me water skiing on Willard Bay. It was the end of September and it was cold. A storm was coming in and nobody was out on the lake except us. Now this would be a great story if I was a die hard water skier, but I don't like water skiing. Boating was Dan's thing, so my birthday was just an excuse to get on the lake.

I also remember the year I was pregnant with Jaxson and all I wanted for Christmas was a new outfit to wear. I cant remember a Christmas that I didn't have something new to wear and I look forward to this every year. When I opened my gift on Christmas I pulled out a pair of sweats. I was so disappointed because the last thing I wanted was a pair of sweats. Being pregnant I already felt fat and ugly and I wanted something to make me feel beautiful. Although Dan didn't know at the time, I went upstairs and cried in the bathroom.

My brother recently reminded me of the time Dan gave me a psychic reading for my birthday. He was so excited about it and thought it was going to change my life. All I can remember is thinking why would he buy me a psychic reading and not being very pleased about my gift.

Since that time Dan and I have talked and he makes sure that I have something new to wear every year; however the condition is that I pick it out first. This has been working well.

I don't want you to think that Dan isn't thoughtful, because he is. He loves giving and most of the time does a great job (if he plans ahead). One year the kids and him gave me a red ipod with an engraving on the back MOM ROCKS! This was a great gift, it only took me a year and 1/2 to start using it.

This year Dan planned the best birthday and I wanted to write it down, so I wouldn't forget what a happy day it was for me and how his efforts (for the good) did not go unnoticed. My birthday happened to fall on a Sunday this year and i wasn't really looking forward to it. Mostly because we are currently the nursery leaders in the ward and I wasn't thrilled to babysit on my birthday. Let's face it, I don't think anyone hopes for this on their birthday. Anyway, I was feeling pretty blue and sitting in sacrament meeting with Reagan. She was being her usual self, noisy, distracting and all over me. I was getting frustrated because I wanted to listen to the testimony meeting as this is the only time I have to really feel the spirit at church. I told Reagan she was making me so mad and she immediately look at me and with concern and love in her eyes saying "Mommy, I don't want to make you so mad." She melted my heart, which was something I needed and I began to feel the spirit. When sacrament meeting was over, Dan told me that he had found someone to cover nursery for me and that he wanted me to be able to go to class. I was absolutely thrilled! This was the best present he could of given me. Although I can't remember what the lessons were about that day, I soaked them up and thoroughly enjoyed myself and time without the kids.

When we arrived home, I was in a pleasant mood - then Dan and kids gave me my "real" presents (Although I had already been given so much and didn't need anything else). I received the movie Letter to Juliet, which I had been wanting. A gift certificate to the spa to receive a massage and 2 pairs of jeans. Dan even picked out the right style and found them on his own. He was very proud of himself and he should be, because everything was perfect. I didn't even care that the pants were 2 sizes too big. He really got it right this year!

Later that afternoon we went to dinner at my parents house, then ended the day by having our close friends come over for cake and ice cream. IT WAS THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY, spending it with friends, family and the gospel!

LADIES NIGHT OUT

A few of my friends and I attended a special "Ladies Night Out" over the weekend. The event was located in Lindon at an outdoor location. The weather was beautiful and the night was filled with fun treats and pampering.

We started off the night by receiving mini-massages (Jaime was the lucky one and had her massage in a tee-pee)! Then we signed up for laser hair removal - this procedure HURT - but I didn't have to shave for a few weeks! Dinner was catered by Costa Vida, and we all got our nails painted, or hair done, or facial waxing.

We sampled dove chocolate truffles and received free Mac eye shadow. We even met a cute make up lady who gave us permanent lipstick (for the day).

We shopped and and ate yummy desserts -it was such a fun evening to spend with friends. What a great lead into my birthday this year!

RUN YOUR MARATHON - RACE TO THE TEMPLE

Madison had a great opportunity to participate in a run to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with the young women in our ward. This Saturday morning run was a lead into Night of Excellence called "Run Your Marathon." We dropped off Madison at the church and then we headed to our station along the path to hand out fruit, water and encouragement. The girls had to run about 3 miles to get to the Temple. Madi has not run before, so I was so proud of her in making it all the way and achieving this remarkable feat.

The parents all surprised the girls by being at the temple - waiting for them at the finish line. As the girls ran up the street, the temple was there only view - a small glimpse of Heaven! As they arrived with cheering fans, they all received medals for accomplishing their goal.

This experience touched me because I thought it was so inspired. What a fabulous young women's presidency we have that they would put together such a neat opportunity for these girls and run along side them.

After talking with some of the leaders, I was even more proud of Madi, because she had a positive attitude the entire run, even though it was extremely hard for her to accomplish this task. She is a fighter, and I love her!

CAMPING - OR NOT TO CAMP?

My family decided it would be fun to go on a camping together this year. We were on the fence for quite a while, knowing that we are not campers and the plan was to go a week after we got back from Lake Powell camping. Going twice in a a year is a stretch for us, let alone twice in one month.

The first evening we set up camp and Scott and Ali proceeding to make dutch oven chicken with potatoes and vegetables. It was Delicious!

Going during the middle of September was very chilly at night - I had no idea what to expect, but this was not it. The days were gorgeous but the nights were freezing. The first night, I held the leftover dinner in a Ziploc bag to try and keep me warm. Surprisingly it worked really well.

On Saturday, we took the kids down to the lake - the water was low, but the sun was shining. Most of us girls sat out on lawn chairs and read, while the guys walked around the lake with the kids. Some of them even swam and fished. We spent a lot of time playing card games and eating good food! At least with this camping trip I didn't have to worry about scorpions, plus there was a toilet (it didn't flush, did we had a real outhouse).

Saturday night Dan and I were in charge of dinner, we made spaghetti and garlic rolls in the dutch oven. We also tried some new recipes in the dutch oven for dessert (pumpkin spice cake and a Carmel, raisin cake), both were delicious - we were all just really full.

Later that night Chip, Scott, Dad and Dan took the kids out on a snip hunt. They all really got into it. Scott had flashing red lights that they told the kids were the beady eyes of the snipe. I think Jaxson was really frightened, when Scott said he had been bitten by a snipe.

Sunday morning after breakfast we packed up and headed home. Not my ideal vacation - too much work for 2 days of camping. (Packing, set up, take down, clean up laundry, put away, etc.) I much prefer someone to make my bed while on vacation. That being said - it was a great way to spend time with my family - I would do it again, but not in September. It needs to be much warmer in order for me to go camping again.

BREAK YOUR HEART

Reagan and I were in the car the other day and the song Break Your Heart came on. Reagan said the funniest thing - I had to write it down.

"Mom, that is so sad, he is going to break our hearts. What are we going to do, we won't be able to love our families, if our hearts are broken."

At the end of the song she asked if we could listen to it again!

LAKE POWELL CAMPING

We were invited to go on a camping/boating trip over the Labor Day weekend with our friends the Sanford's. We have been wanting to take our kids camping for quite some time so we jumped on the opportunity. After we committed, then it sank it that this was going to be a lot of work and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I was very nervous about the sandstorms. There was no backing out so the adventure began. There was alot of prep work involved, especially because we had to pack light enough to get everything on the boat to get to our camp site. Dan decided to put up our tent before hand so we could remember what it looked like (It had been 7 years since our last camping trip - that is how much I enjoy camping) The tent was smaller than we thought, so we ended up borrowing a tent from my brother, along with his shade canopy. At least someone in our family our campers.

We left Thursday afternoon for the lake, about an hour outside of Lake Powell, the boat trailer got a flat. It was dark and we were on a road with no shoulder. Fortunately for us, we pulled over and there was a side road we were able to turn on and replace the flat without being in the middle of the road. I know Heavenly Father was watching over us and again I am grateful for his presence in my life.

Friday morning we met the rest of our party and headed out on the lake to find a spot. The boat was very heavy with all of our stuff; combined with getting through the channel the boat ride was very bumpy. Reagan kept saying she wanted to go back to the hotel. We found an incredible beach for the kids to play in and set up camp. The only problem was it was so hot that just walking up the small hill to our tent site was exhausting. The sand was so hot it burned your feet. We got things set up enough to go out boating and decided we would continue our efforts when the sun set and it wasn't so hot. The next couple of days were spent, wake boarding, surfing, and tubing.

On Sunday we spent the day swimming, exploring the lake and cliff jumping. The kids lived in their life jackets from sun up, til sun down. Dan and Scott took a bunch of the kids on a hike up the mountain which was harder that they first anticipated. The best way down was to come down on the other side of the mountain and swim back to shore. No one had life jackets and they had to abandon their shoes to get back. The swim was further that they thought and as Jaxson was swimming back with Dan. He said "Dad, if I don't make it. Tell Mom, Madi and Reagan I love them."

Jaxson has really picked up water sports. He was able to get over and back on the wake. He surfed with Scott and loved, loved. loved tubing. That kids' smile is a mile long. We had people asking us if he ever stopped smiling. (That's my happy kid!)

Reagan loved the water as much as Jaxson, she was the first one in the lake every morning and the last one out. She went tubing with the kids and was grinning from ear to ear. Scott also took her surfing and she loved it. I was freaking out as a mom, because she has to balance with Scott to get up and then hold onto his legs. The first time she looked a little frightened; however was so excited when she got back in the boat. The next day she surfed again and had a huge smile on her face the entire time.

Madi enjoyed tubing and didn't enjoy tubing. She kept telling Dan she was scared, but it was fun. Overall she took it pretty good. (I personally can't stand tubing, it scares the life out of me, not being in control.) The second day tubing Tyson took them out on the lake and thrashed the kids on the tube. Madi took a pretty big hit having the tube flip and cried. She told Dan she was never going to go back on a boat again.

On day two I gave up on trying to keep sand out of our tent and beds. It was an impossible task. I had to loosen up and just enjoy the experience, including the sand. The second night the Harline's found a scorpion in their tent as they were getting the boys ready for bed. Glen tried to find it and couldn't so the adult males started pulling everything out of the tent one by one and shaking it. They still couldn't find it. They ended up sleeping on their boat (I don't blame them). Madi and I had a hard time wanting to go to bad after that, we were both scared. As we made the journey up to the tent, we tiptoed in and started looking at all our bedding. We said a prayer to calm our souls and help us to sleep. The following morning the scorpion was found right outside the tent and was captured.

We met some fantastic families on our trip. The company we traveled with have known each other for quite some time and have been on several boating trips. It was nice that they know what they were doing. There were a total of 24 people including our families. Tyson and Ali Florence put the trip together - they have three beautiful children (Kaitlyn, Zac and Bridger). They brought with them Dave and Julie Smart and two of their children (Conner and Kylie) They also brought a friend Sandra. We found out that Dave is the brother of Ed Smart and we were able to talk about Elizabeth a little and get some incite on how well she is doing. Dave told us that she along with the rest of her family were all given blessings from the first presidency of the church shortly after her return. She was given a blessing by President Hinckley. He told her that none of this was her fault and that she was still as pure as the white of snow. I really touched me to hear that and I will always remember that conversation. Glen and Stacy Harline were the other family that traveled with us and their 3 children (Olivia, Mitchell and Owen.)

The kids all got along really well. Jaxson and Jade are two peas in a pod and went lizard hunting every day. They actually caught a few. Reagan and Ivy (or Iby as she calls her) Loves playing together as well. It was nice to have Kylie Smart there for Madi - both of them were 12 and got along great the entire trip.

Although it was hot, the water was a great escape to cool down during the day. Lake Powell is a beautiful place and we had gorgeous weather. The last day the wind kicked up a little so every time you opened your mouth, you got a little grit. but nothing terrible or scary, thankfully. We couldn't have gone with a nicer group of people. For not knowing anyone but the Sanford's it worked out really well. Everyone was welcoming and so friendly. It was a great way to end the summer!